1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image forming apparatuses, log recording methods, and programs, and, in more detail, relates to an image forming apparatus, a log recording method, and a program for associating log information of the image forming apparatus with log information of a web server operating in conjunction with the image forming apparatus to provide a series of audit trails.
2. Description of the Related Art
An audit trail is a record preserved along a temporal sequence for a system auditor to track operation of an information system and contents and process during the operation. The audit trail is used for verifying that reliability, safety, efficiency, effectiveness, etc. are secured in the information system. Generally, a log recorded by the information system is an important audit trail. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-076662 discloses a method tracking an information leaker by searching for a log as this audit trail.
However, when a user carries out an operation across a plurality of devices connected with each other via a network, the logs exist across the plurality of devices and it is difficult to associate the logs of the same user (or same access source and the like) with each other. For solving this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-048266 discloses a method identifying an access source according to recorded date and time and access person information (i.e., user account information) in the log output from each device and pursuing the operation by sequentially tracking the logs.
Meanwhile, there is known an image forming apparatus containing functions of respective devices such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile, and a scanner in one housing. Such a composite type image forming apparatus has applications corresponding to respective devices and operates as the printer, the copier, the scanner or the facsimile by switching the applications. When the various kinds of functions such as the printer, the copier, and the facsimile, are utilized, this image forming apparatus generates and executes a job corresponding to each of the functions. Then, after the job has been completed, the result is recorded as a job log. By analyzing this job log (i.e., audit trail), it is possible to track a use situation and a user of the image forming apparatus.
Further, there is known a technique causing the image forming apparatus to combine a web browser for a web client function, to obtain (download) various contents from a remote control web application server and browse them, and to improve the functions of the image forming apparatus. In such a configuration, the web browser of the image forming apparatus executes various functions such as the printer and the scanner provided to the image forming apparatus according to the information contents obtained from the web application server.
For associating the logs recorded across the plurality of devices with each other according to the method of above described Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-048266, the logs recorded in each of the devices need to have common information (same information). For example, the same date and time information, or the same user account information or user ID information needs to exist within the logs of the plurality of devices.
In an actual case, however, the same user sometimes log-ins to a certain device using a user account of A and log-ins to another device using a user account of B. Accordingly, there can be a case where common information does not exist in both devices. In such a case, there is a problem that the log information cannot be associated with one another among the plurality of devices. For this point, it facilitates understanding to consider a specific environment as follows, and thus a specific environment will be described. Note that this environment is only an example and the present invention is not limited to a usage in such an example of the environment.
First, a web browser of the image forming apparatus directly instructs an application of the image forming apparatus according to information obtained from a web application server, in a method as follows.
When the web browser of the image forming apparatus accesses the web application server, a log of the access and a log of a website operation are recorded in the web application server. Recording time and user information recorded in the logs of the web application server are information managed within the web application server.
On the other hand, when the web browser of the image forming apparatus directly instructs the application of the image forming apparatus and executes the function of the image forming apparatus, a job log of these operations is recorded in the image forming apparatus. Recording time and user information recorded in the job log are information managed in the image forming apparatus.
As a result, when the user information managed by the image forming apparatus and the user information managed by the web application server are different from each other, it is very difficult to associate the logs recorded in the respective apparatuses with each other.
Further, time is not always adjusted accurately between the image forming apparatus and the web application server (time itself is different particularly when recoding is done in a local time of a region), probably the logs cannot be associated with each other using the recording date and time.
Further, since web application of the image forming apparatus implemented in the web application server is operated by web browsers of a plurality of image forming apparatuses at the same time, one access source cannot be specified only by the log recording date and time.